The Museum Proper is a puppetry performance directed by Dax Tran-Caffee (now encapsulated under the title Villainette)

Contrary to most museums, the Museum Proper is not a place to visit, nor is it a collection of objects that have cleverly outlasted their usefulness, but if a museum is in fact "incongruityborn of the overzealous spiritin the face of unfathomable phenomena," then this is the Museum Proper. Clothed in puppetry, the Museum Proper forages the Uncanny Valley in search of Ryle's ghost in the machine.

"[...] there is no showmanship, legerdemain, pretense or fanfare in the presentation of this non-traditional puppetry [...] - meanwhile, glowing stars pop out of suitcases of their own accord, and apparitions rise out of heaps of cardboard and collapse just as quickly. Nothing is hidden in the straight-forward construction of the puppets and apparatuses, and yet each piece unfolds a moment of magic that is as moving as it was direct. These shows cleverly present the fascination that has been lost to us since childhood, though you wouldn't imagine how simply it was achieved."Blair Thomas - Artistic Director of Blair Thomas & Co. Chamber Puppet Theater, founder of Redmoon Theater, Chicago, IL.

This is an entirely independent artistic project, and exists only through blood, sweat, tears - and your support.
To raise money for our next project we are selling block prints of the Bandersnatch puppet, as well as a few small pieces of original art.

The prints are hand-printed (without a press) linocuts by Dax Tran-Caffee, 6x9" on Rives BFK cotton paper, and are a limited edition of 135 signed/numbered prints.

You can purchase these prints through our etsy store for $15 each - we will also be selling these prints at Museum Proper events, while the supply lasts.

These collages are composed of garbage collected from the workshop floor during the building of the Museum Proper: simple, non-archival materials, in the spirit of the heroic Bread & Puppet's "Cheap Art Manifesto."

A series of 30 of these pieces were made as rewards for the Kickstarter fundraiser in Feb 2010. A handful of these original works of art are still available at $25 each, only through our etsy store.

We also looking for donations of materials. In particular, our workshop needs:

MONETARY DONATIONS: We certainly don't mind straight donations. We have set up a paypal account (if you'd rather send a personal check, please send Dax an email) - no donation is too small, and we put every wooden nickel to use.

Thank you to everyone who was able to contribute to this project via Kickstarter! The Museum Proper was successfully funded as of February, and is currently being built.

All puppetry by Dax Tran-Caffee is now performed under the name Villainette.